How to Use topspin in a Sentence

topspin

noun
  • Every pro on the tour can hit extreme topspin with the flick of a wrist.
    oregonlive, 25 Sep. 2020
  • As Will Smith left his seat, strolled up to the stage, and slapped Chris Rock, my first thought was: nice topspin.
    Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2022
  • Matt McLain lofted a high fly ball with topspin that carried over the wall in left field.
    Charlie Goldsmith, The Enquirer, 30 July 2023
  • The teenager tossed up a topspin lob near the baseline that Nadal could not catch up to and Alcaraz led 5-4.
    Beth Harris, ajc, 20 Mar. 2022
  • Raleigh Upton served the final two points with topspin to finish off the match.
    Colin Murphy, Baltimore Sun, 12 Sep. 2022
  • His opponents all try to hit with heavy topspin to bury him in the backcourt.
    New York Times, 1 May 2022
  • Barty, meanwhile, kept up her mixture of clean topspin and clever slices that skimmed low off the grass to force the 6-foot-1 Pliskova all over the court.
    Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 10 July 2021
  • The beauty of his backhand was no match for the heavy topspin of Nadal’s forehand that day, and on numerous other days to follow.
    Gerald Marzorati, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2022
  • The ball carried about 80 yards in the air, hit the grass on the other end with some serious topspin, bounced over Purchase goalie Mario Olmedo and found its way into the net.
    Tim Reynolds, SFChronicle.com, 27 Dec. 2019
  • Barty is a righty who relies on heavy topspin for a forehand packed with power, and her slice backhand can produce tricky bounces on the grass.
    BostonGlobe.com, 8 July 2021
  • But Saturday belonged to Swiatek and her own heavy-topspin forehand.
    New York Times, 4 June 2022
  • Swiatek does it with tremendous play at the baseline, picking up balls early and smacking big groundstrokes with thick topspin.
    Howard Fendrich and Jerome Pugmire, sun-sentinel.com, 8 Oct. 2020
  • Sock got the serve back, and went back to his playbook, using inside-out forehands and penetrating, heavy topspin passing shots to even the game at eight.
    Todd Boss, Forbes, 4 May 2023
  • Up 5-4 and desperate for a break to end the match, Murray crushed a cross-court backhand to get to match point, then finished off the comeback with a topspin lob that Nishioka could not put on the court.
    Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2020
  • Modern players serve the ball with such force and topspin that the only way to get a handle on these violent high-bouncing assaults is to keep moving back.
    Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 30 Sep. 2020
  • This is the first edition of the French Open to feature night sessions and the king of clay felt that the cooler temperatures as the match progressed played to Djokovic’s strengths — mainly by taking some of the sting out of Nadal’s topspin.
    Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 11 June 2021
  • His heavy topspin serve gave Beasley (a former collegiate tennis player from Cal-Poly) fits.
    Todd Boss, Forbes, 4 May 2023
  • And when Rafa unleashed the deep topspin, backed up by Federer’s angled volley at the net, their combined talent was sublime.
    Susie Rushton, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2022
  • The theory here is that cooler fall conditions don’t suit Nadal’s game, pulling down on his heavy, explosive topspin.
    oregonlive, 7 Oct. 2020
  • Grains are plump and slightly sweet, with a gentle, vinegary topspin that provides an unshakable foundation for each of the restaurant’s six items.
    Lucas Kwan Peterson, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2023
  • Now, in order to produce extreme topspin and power, some players have their palms tucked so far under that their wrists almost seem contorted.
    Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2019
  • Their plain-spokenness gives Mr. Jackson’s dialogue a lot of topspin.
    Dwight Garner, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2016
  • While young and energetic, the cast just doesn’t have that topspin of talent or showbiz experience to really lift the content.
    Rod Stafford Hagwood, sun-sentinel.com, 20 Nov. 2019
  • Chirico’s weapons have been maximized by the conditions in Madrid, where the altitude amplifies her topspin.
    Ben Rothenberg, New York Times, 5 May 2016
  • Her heavy topspin strokes are just devastating on that surface, and the slower bounce gives her enough time on the ball to manipulate opponents until there’s an opening to hit a winner.
    Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 25 May 2023
  • With two outs in the seventh, Tyler Duffey fooled Martin Maldonado with a curveball that dived into the dirt, and got a routine bouncer to third, perhaps with a little extra topspin, as his reward.
    Phil Miller, Star Tribune, 30 Sep. 2020
  • But suddenly their opponent is swinging away with reckless abandon, grazing the lines with topspin winners.
    Shawn Tully, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2022
  • The Winchester High number one doesn’t commit a single double fault in the set and stays patient at the baseline, hitting wide angles and switching between topspin and flat shots to throw off her opponent, letting her make the mistakes.
    Matt Case, BostonGlobe.com, 11 May 2018
  • With the help of Renée Richards, a new coach who played professional tennis in the 1970s after undergoing transition surgery Navratilova learned a topspin backhand and a crushing forehand volley.
    New York Times, 6 June 2021
  • Roger Federer, who struggles -- relatively speaking -- with high-bouncing topspin to his backhand, won the Hamburg Masters four times.
    oregonlive, 7 Oct. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'topspin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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